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State Enforcement Actions

					
Each state enforces its laws and defends its interests, and states often work with the federal government in investigating and prosecuting corporate frauds.  Whistleblowers with knowledge of fraud or wrongful conduct that involves state or local funds or programs may be able to bring a claim under a state or local False Claims Act, and may be eligible to receive a monetary reward and protection against retaliation.


Below are summaries of recent settlements, successful prosecutions, and enforcement actions by states. If you believe you have information about fraud which could give rise to a claim under a State or Local False Claims Act or other whistleblower reward provision, please contact us to speak with one of our experienced whistleblower attorneys.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
May 15, 2015

				 Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced his office expects to recover a total of $63 million from nine LCD manufacturers, whose price-fixing conspiracy drove up prices consumers paid on items like TVs, laptops and cell phones. If approved, it will be one of the largest recoveries for Washington by the Attorney General’s Antitrust Division in state history. The companies involved and the amount they agreed to pay are: Samsung ($12.94 million), AU Optronics ($12.5 million), Chi Mei Optoelectronics ($8.75 million), Sharp ($6.75 million), Epson ($2.7 million), Toshiba ($950,000), and Chunghwa Picture Tubes ($350,502). The office previously reached agreements with LG ($13 million) and Hitachi ($5.2 million). WA

				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 13, 2015

				 Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced a $75 million settlement with Enbridge Energy over the July 2010 Line 6B spill that sent more than 800,000 gallons of oil into Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River from a pipeline owned and operated by Enbridge. MI				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 12, 2015

				 California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced that the California Department of Justice, along with the Attorneys General of the other 49 States and the District of Columbia, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Federal Communications Commission, reached settlements with Sprint Corporation and Cellco Partnership (d/b/a Verizon Wireless) to resolve allegations that Sprint and Verizon placed charges for third-party services on consumers’ mobile telephone bills that were not authorized by the consumers, a practice known as “mobile cramming.” The state of California will receive $549,731.29 in the Sprint settlement, and $733,298.41 in the Verizon settlement. In total, Sprint will pay $68 million and Verizon will pay $90 million the bulk of which will go to consumers who were victims of cramming. Sprint and Verizon are the third and fourth mobile telephone providers to enter into a nationwide settlement to resolve allegations regarding cramming. In December 2014, Attorney General Harris reached a $90 million settlement with T-Mobile and a $105 million settlement with AT&T in October of 2014. CA				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 11, 2015

				 Acting New Jersey Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced guilty plea of Rehan Zuberi and his wife Humara Paracha to charges they bribed dozens of doctors in exchange for referrals, worth several million dollars, to the medical imaging centers they owned and operated under the umbrella group Diagnostic Imaging Affiliates which managed numerous diagnostic imaging facilities throughout northern and central New Jersey. NJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  Laboratory and IDTF, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 8, 2015

				 New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced an agreement in principle to settle kickback claims against Medco Health Solutions subsidiary Accredo Health Group, Inc. to resolve allegations that Accredo recommended the drug Exjade to Medicaid patients in exchange for kickbacks from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation which markets the drug. Under the settlement, Accredo will pay $60 million to the federal government, New York, and several other states. About $3.4 million of the settlement will resolve claims relating to New York’s Medicaid program. In January 2014, another pharmacy, BioScrip, Inc., agreed to pay $15 million to resolve similar claims. The case against Novartis is ongoing. NY				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  FCA State, 
													  Pharma Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 7, 2015

				 California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced an $11.5 million settlement with Phillips 66 and ConocoPhillips to resolve allegations they violated state laws governing the proper operation and maintenance of underground storage tanks used to store gasoline for retail sale. The companies failed to comply with hazardous materials and hazardous waste laws at over 560 gasoline stations owned or operated by the companies in the state of California. CA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 6, 2015

				 New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced that Carewell Ambulette, Inc. and its owner, Kurien Palliankal have pleaded guilty to stealing more than $200,000 from the New York Medicaid program. Palliankal will be sentenced to six months in jail, followed by five years of probation, and will also be required to pay full restitution to Medicaid. Carewell will be fined $10,000. From July 2006 through March 2010, Palliankal and Carewell defrauded the Medicaid system by doctoring the request forms received from the medical providers. These forms authorized taxi service, but Palliankal changed the forms to appear as though they authorized the more expensive ambulette service, which Medicaid pays at a rate four times higher than taxi service. NY				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Medicaid, 
													  Upcoding, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
April 29, 2015

				 Lehigh Cement agreed to pay $7.5 million to resolve allegations it violated the Clean Water Act by discharging millions of gallons daily of quarry process water and stormwater polluted with thousands of pounds of sediment, and hundreds of pounds of selenium and other toxic metals, into Permanente Creek, a tributary to San Francisco Bay.  CA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
April 29, 2015

				 The trustees of the Victor E. Perley Fund, a private foundation for the benefit of underprivileged children, agreed to pay $1.025 million to settle charges the board allowed the foundation’s new leader, Richard A. Basini, to fund his own interests and those of a fellow trustee, James J. Cahill, resulting in the Perley Fund’s purchase of a million-dollar Southampton home that Basini used as his private residence.  NY				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
April 28, 2015

				 Life Focus Center of Charlestown, Inc., a former nonprofit that provided day habilitation services to individuals with developmental disabilities, agreed to pay more than $94,000 to settle claims it violated the Massachusetts False Claims Act by billing the state’s Medicaid program (MassHealth) for services not provided.  MA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA State, 
													  Medicaid, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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